THREE things about Andrew Neil’s interview with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon strike me, apart from Neil bring aggressively rude.

First, we Scots don’t have to justify whether we have a referendum or not. It doesn’t matter what anyone previously said about what conditions would need to exist to have another one. A referendum is the Scottish people’s fundamental right whenever WE decide, and no-one else; we are not seeking permission. That is real democracy, not the illusion perpetrated by Westminster.

Second, if Scotland’s deficit is 7%, and reputedly the highest in Europe, then that situation exists directly because of the singular failure of Westminster, which is responsible for managing the UK economy, to deliver fair investment and economic stimulation in all regions of the UK.

READ MORE: First Minister blasts ‘liar’ Boris Johnson as he visits Scotland

The existence of Scotland’s deficit is England’s shame. It is proof positive that the UK union is not working for Scotland and that it is time to move on and control our own economy through independence.

Third, it is breathtaking hypocrisy to state that post-Brexit the UK will have a good trade deal with the EU, yet somehow after independence Scotland couldn’t have the same trading relationship with rUK! Do these people like Andrew Neil think we’re as stupid as they are?

Blue and red Tories have failed to protect the UK union by pillaging Scotland’s resources, failing to invest Scotland’s natural wealth in Scotland and fomenting dissent about Scotland’s inequality in this alleged UK “partnership.”

Sorry, Westminster. Sorry, all you blue and red Tories. Sorry, Andrew Neil and your vested interest ilk. You’ve been rumbled. The game is up. Nothing you promised last time to buy UK compliant votes has been forthcoming. Excluding Scotland in Brexit negotiations proves no “partnership” exists. You lied. We know it.

And many like me, who voted to stay in the UK union last time, are calling for the UK union with Scotland being a part of it to be confined to the dustbin of history.

That’s where Westminster’s arrogant rule has shown it deserves to be.

The UK union doesn’t work, except for Westminster. Independence is no longer the aspiration of few Scots, but the imperative for the many.

Jim Taylor
Edinburgh

HOW did an unprecedented number of enlightened Scots manage to crack the system and get their voices heard on the Question Time leaders debate in Sheffield?

Their input raised the standard of questioning and discussion from the floor to an all-time high.

Compare that to the notorious broadcast from Dundee, where so many plants appeared in the audience that a more appropriate title might have been Gardeners’ Question Time.

James Stevenson
Auchterarder

ALYN Smith’s outward looking article, (Getting the job done for Europe and the world, November 27) is a welcome relief from the dull, drab, Brexit nonsense being pedalled Boris Johnson and his fellow Brexiteers who claim to be Unionists. It is also a reminder that we are still a member of the EU and our businesses are still trading in the single market – long may it continue.

READ MORE: Alyn Smith: The SNP are getting the job done for Europe and the world

Sadly the Westminster dictatorship is preoccupied with attempts to usurp the Scottish people’s democratic right to vote on Scottish independence. It is also worth noting that young people in Scotland aged16-8 are not allowed to vote in the forthcoming election, even although the outcome could have a profound effect on their way of life.

Thomas L Inglis
Fintry